[van-announce] BIAC congratulates United Church of Canada on settlement boycott

[Charlotte Kates]

BIAC congratulates United Church of Canada on settlement
boycott<http://www.boycottisraeliapartheid.org/2012/biac-congratulates-united-church-of-canada-on-settlement-boycott/>

The Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (BIAC) in Vancouver congratulates
the United Church of Canada for a strong step forward in support of
justice. On Wednesday, August 15 – and re-confirmed on Friday, August 17 –
the United Church’s General Council 41 adopted a policy (below) of urging
boycott of goods produced in Israeli settlements.

"Call on United Church members to take concrete actions to support the end
of the occupation by:

a. directing the Executive of the General Council to give high priority to
establishing a church-wide campaign of education and economic action
directed against one or more settlement products that can be identified as
produced in or related to the settlements or the occupied territories;

b.    identifying the goal of the campaign as building awareness of United
Church members of the illegal settlements’ unjust continuation of the
occupation and its impact on the lives of Palestinians and Israelis;

c. supporting the campaign through accompanying resources such as this
working group report, the Kairos Palestine document, and others that are
clearly directed toward an end to the occupation;

d. directing the Executive of the General Council to explore the wisdom of
divesting in companies that are profiting from or supporting the occupation;

e. encouraging members of the United Church to avoid any and all products
produced in the settlements;

f. requesting that the Canadian government ensure that all products
produced in the settlements be labelled clearly and differently from
products of Israel;

g. requesting that the Canadian government ensure that products produced in
the settlements not be given preferential treatment under the Canada–Israel
Free Trade Agreement;

h. inviting the participation of other Canadian churches in the campaign.”

This motion, emerging from years of work by people of conscience within the
Church working on Palestine issues, is an important victory toward
advancing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and recognition and
support of justice for Palestine and the Palestinian people within Canadian
churches and popular institutions. BIAC salutes all of the Church
organizers and organizers from other groups and organizations, such as
Independent Jewish Voices, who worked for years on educational efforts
directed at Church members.

It is also worth noting here the efforts of labour activists who have
secured a BDS resolution in the Canadian Union of Postal
Workers<http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/371225/postal-workers-take-firm-stand-to-support-palestinian-workers>,
and of student activists who have made Israeli Apartheid
Week<http://apartheidweek.org/> a
fixture at Canadian universities.

This action by the United Church of Canada, Canada’s largest Protestant
mainline denomination, follows quickly on the actions of the United
Methodist Church<http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/united-methodists-call-for-boycott-of-products-made-by-israeli-companies-operating-in-occupied-palestinian-territories-8999>
and
the Presbyterian Church
(USA)<http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/palestinian-civil-society-welcomes-presbyterian-church-usa-israel-boycott-resolution-9197>,
two large mainline Protestant Christian denominations in the United States,
which both adopted boycott
motions<http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/6420/the-pendulum-swings-and-a-new-era-has-begun_presby>
targeting
settlement products at their membership general assemblies in May and July
2012.

The action draws the United Church closer to alignment with the Palestinian
civil society call for Boycott Divestment and
Sanctions<http://bdsmovement.net/>,
targeting Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights and international
law. The BDS call emerges from all aspects of Palestinian civil society,
including Palestinian churches, whose clarion call, the 2009 “Kairos
Document <http://www.kairospalestine.ps/>“, has been an inspiration and a
mandate for Christians of conscience around the world to take action in
solidarity with the Palestinian people struggling for freedom.

It should be noted that the United Church of Canada vote came amidst an
atmosphere of large-scale fear-mongering and deception promoted by the
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and
similar Zionist organizations, who sought to smear Church organizers as
“antisemites” for their work to combat racism and oppression in Palestine.
This campaign included numerous lobby efforts targeting the church, massive
media exposure, and even statements from nine Canadian
senators<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadian-senators-warn-united-church-over-israel-boycott/article4387825/>
demanding
the Church reject the settlement boycott. It is to the credit of the Church
that the settlement boycott motion in fact passed with nearly 80% of the
votes present.

We encourage the United Church and its members to continue to work to raise
the Church’s voice as a voice for justice in Palestine, and salute the
Church and its members for its action to end complicity in the ongoing
occupation, oppression and apartheid directed against Palestinians. The
United Church was a leading voice in the movement against apartheid in
South Africa, and this vote is a crucial victory in the Church’s voice
re-emerging as a key voice for justice against apartheid.



-- 
Charlotte L. Kates     charlotte.kates at gmail.com